The ruler of UAE city/state Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, had earlier announced that 25% of all car trips in Dubai will be driverless by 2030.

However, the future of the drivers of taxi companies, primarily foreign labour workforce including a large number of Indians, remains uncertain. As Dubai revs towards a driverless future, questions remain on the employment of thousands of cab drivers in the city/state.

A deal has been signed with Toulouse, France-based driverless vehicle manufacturer EasyMile to conduct tests on their box-shaped EZ10, which carries up to 10 passengers. The driverless car was inaugurated by the Crown Prince on Monday at the Dubai World Trade Centre Exhibition Halls as it drove a few 100 metres. The vehicle is designed to travel short distances on pre-programmed routes and under various environments.

Dubai is already home to the driverless Metro system which carried 178 million riders in 2015.

They explained their concept about the product as: ''The UAE is characterized by continuous ambition to achieve leadership and precedence in everything that serves the human and facilitates his life has been our successful experiences started from the UAE and became in a short period is an example of future technology such as unmanned aircraft and robots and systems, artificial intelligence, and today we launch the challenge ‘Dubai World’ to navigate a self-driving international tender for all companies and R&D centers and academic institutions in order to expedite the transfer of this technology from the laboratory and field experience to the real application on the streets of Dubai.”

“Today, we lay down a clear strategy with specific goals for smart transportation to form one of the key drivers for achieving sustainable economy in the UAE,” said Sheikh Mohammed.